Till lock with alarm



Au'g.'18, 1.953 M. ROTMAN 2,649,070

TILL LOCK WITH ALARM Filed July :51, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 'MemfzemFd/fmn ATTORNEY Aug. 18, 1953 M. ROTMAN I 2,649,070

- TILL LOCK WITH ALARM Filed July 51, 1952 2 Shaefgs-Sheet z INVENTO Elena/zen": Po an ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 18, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application July 31, 1952, Serial No. 301,905 In Germany October 9, 1951 8 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to cash drawers or tills or the like and it relates more particularly to novel locking mechanism for such cash drawers or tills.

In their simplest form, cash depositories or tills for use in stores and the like are merely sliding drawers, installed beneath the counter, which can be opened by the store-keeper in receiving money or making change. On the other hand, cash depositories may consist of costly cash registers, which contain complicated adding, recording, tabulating and/or accounting mechanism, and which are much too expensive for the average small store-keeper. As a compromise between these extremes, it has heretofore been suggested to provide a cash drawer or till with means for manually recording individual transactions. It has also been suggested to provide such a cash drawer or till with mechanism for making an audible signal, such as a bell or buzzer, to warn the store-keeper against opening of the drawer by unauthorized persons. These conventional constructions have, however, proven inadequate and unsatisfactory.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved construction for cash drawers or tills or the like. Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive, yet effective, locking mechanism for such cash drawers. another object of this invention is to provide a self-contained lock which can be quickly and easily afiixed to the outside of existing cash drawers. A further object of the present invention is to provide a locking device for tills which contains signalling mechanism for giving a loud and unmistakable audible signal, regardless of how slowly or carefully the drawer is opened by an unauthorized person.

However, since it is frequently desirable to lock the till (as, for example, when there are a number of customers in the store and the store-keeper is required to move a considerable distance away from the drawer or till) and since the use of a key for this purpose is not only awkward and time-consuming but also psychologically bad in making it appear to the customer that he is not being trusted, it is another object of this invention to provide a push button or other unobtrusive means for rendering the releasing mechanism inoperative and for thereafter making it necessary to use a key or the like to open the drawer. Still another object of the present in- .vention is to provide means whereby the same push button which normally renders the releas- Still q ing mechanism inoperative can also be used to render the locking mechanism inoperative, so that the drawer remains unlocked when pushed in, for greater convenience when security is un necessary, as for example, when the store has been closed and the days receipts are being checked and tabulated.

A further object of this invention is to provide a till lock of the character described incorporating simple and inexpensive counting mechanism for recording the number of times the till has been opened and thereby giving some degree of protection against dishonest employees or the like.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed description, appended claims and accompanying drawings.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the accompanying drawings a form thereof which is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown and that the several parts and elements can be variously arranged without departing from the spirit or essential attributes of this invention.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters indicate like parts throughout:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the novel till lock of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the embodiment of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view, taken generally along the line IIIIII of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a rear elevational view looking generally in the direction of the arrows IVIV of Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is a front elevational view of the working mechanism as it would appear if looking from inside the front plate of the housing enerally in the direction of the arrows VV of Fig. 3.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Figure '7 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 'i'! of Fig. 5.

In one embodiment of the present invention, shown in Figs. 1-7, I may provide an open-back case or housing i, the front panel of which has a window to receive the indicating portion of a conventional counter 2, which indicates the number of times the till is opened, as will be described hereinbelow. The front panel of the case i is also provided with openings, through which extend a locking pin or button 3 and a key socket 4, to be described below.

The corners of the front panel are provided with holes to receive fastening bolts 5 which secure the case I to the front panel 5I of a drawer or till 52, which is slidably mounted within a structure, fragmentarily shown at 53, which may be a counter or display case or desk or cabinet or any other similar structure. The bolts 5 are provided with smoothly rounded rivetheads so that they cannot be removed from the outside of the case I, when the drawer is closed. Alternatively, any other type of conventional fastening means, irremovable from the outside, may be employed, as for example, countersunk screws or bolts, rivets, toggle bolts, and'the like.

Mounted on the front panel of the housing I, is a pull handle 6 which is a hollow, open-bottom structure. Concealed within the interior i of the handle 6 is a lift-key 3 which is intended to be lifted manually so as to raise the latch 9 of the look from the lowermost locking position shown in Figs. 1-5 (wherein it protrudes downward through a suitable opening in the bottom panel of the case I and into a corresponding socket formed in an extension piece 54 secured to the front of the structure 53, directly below the drawer 52) to retracted position within the case I, and thereby to release the lock and permit the drawer to be opened, in a manner to be more fully described hereinbelow. Of course, a simple slidable bolt could be used in place of the spring-pressed yieldable latch 9, which is provided with an inwardlydirected curved camming surface, causing it to be momentarily retracted and thereafter automatically to snap closed in conventional manner when the till is closed.

Disposed inside the housing I is a generally U- shaped mounting frame or chassis 613 having a generally horizontal base 34, bolted or otherwise secured to the bottom panel of the housing, and a pair of spaced vertical plates 62 and 63; the front plate 62 being spaced slightly inwardly from the front panel of the. housing. The lift-key 8, which is preferably formed of sheet-metal or the like, extends through an opening 64 in the front panel of the housing I, and then bends downward, as at 8-a, in abutting relationship to the front plate 62. An extension piece II], of generally rectangular cross-section, extends rearwardly from the portion 8-.a of the lift-key, through elongated, aligned vertically-extending slots 65 and 66 in the plates 62 and 63.. respectively, and

through a similar slot I I formed in the enlarged body I2 of the latch; the latch body I2 being disposed intermediate the plates 62 and 63, in

vertically movable relationship thereto.

The free end l4 of the extension piece I protrudes inward somewhat beyond the plate 63 and is provided with a horizontal notch I3, giving a bifurcated construction Disposed within the notch I3 is the connectingfinger I5'of a movable member I6, which is slidably mounted on the rear side of the plate 63 by lower andupper pin-and-slot connections I! and 67, respectively. Mounted at the upper end of the member I 6 is a block I 8, provided with a generally horizontal, slidable latch 26, which is urged inwardly by a leaf spring I9, so that its inwardly directed engaging end 2I (which has a downwardly-directed inclined camming surface) normally protrudes beyond the inner edge of the block I8, as shown in Fig. 4. In this position, the end 2| underlies and supports the end 22 of one arm 23 of a lever, which is pivotally mounted, as at 24, on the rear side of the plate 63. The other (and longer) arm 25 of the lever is provided, near its end, with a pin 26, against which is seated the end of a coil spring 21, which is mounted on a rod 28, extending rearwardly from the plate 63 and supporting a bell 3| at its free end. On the pin 26 is mounted the hammer or clapper 36 of the bell. The spring 21 urges the lever counterclockwise in Fig. 4, so that the end 22 of the lever bears downward against the end 2| of the slidable latch 20, as described above. It

is apparent that, as the lift-key 8 is lifted manually,'it raises the movable member I6 and the several parts mounted thereon, and causes the protruding end 2I of the latch 26 to raise the end 22, thereby rotating the lever slightly clockwise against the pressure of the spring 21. During this clockwise rotation of the lever, the end 22 moves inward, as well as upward, until it clears the end 2| of the latch 20, whereupon the lever is pivoted violently counterclockwise, by the spring 21, causing the clapper 36 to strike a resounding blow against the bell 3I and resulting in a loud and unmistakable ring. Obviously, it is immaterialthat the lift-key is lifted slowly and carefully (as might be the case with an unauthorized person), the force with which the clapper strikes the bell is always relatively the same.

The end 22 of the lever is provided with an upwardly-directed camming-surface, so that, after the lift-key is released and the member I6 moves back downward in a manner to be hereinafter described, the downwardly-directed camming-surface of the end 2I contacts this upwardly-directed camming surface and causes momentary retraction of the latch 20 (against the pressure of its spring I9) to permit the latch 20 to clear the end 22 and return to its original position, shown in Fig. 4, wherein it is ready for another cycle of operation.

The latch body I 2 is provided with an elongated vertical slot 33 into which extends a pin mounted on the front plate 62 so as toguide the latch body in vertical reciprocation. The latch body is also provided with an uppermost curved camming shoulder 35.

While the weight of the latch body I2 should be adequate to keep it in lowermost position, except when manually raised, and to return it to lowermost position after each lifting operation (to be hereinafter described), I prefer to provide the latch body I2 with a helical spring 36, mounted on a post 68 secured to the plate 63; the free end of the spring 36 bearing against the camming shoulder 35 and positively urging the latch body I2 to lowermost position, as shown in Fig. 5.

As indicated in Fig, 3, the latch body I 2 is provided with a pin 69 located just above the slot II and projecting forward so as to overlie the liftkey 8. Thus, upward manual movement of the lift-key, as described above, will also cause raising of the latch-body and latch 9. However, since the slot I I has a greater vertical dimension than the extension-piece I6, the latch body is free to move upward and away from the lift-key (without causing raisin of the member I6 or operation of the bell signal) during the momentary camming retraction of the latch 9, when the drawer is shut.

The latch body I2 has a lateral projection 31 which underlies the end of a downwardly-directed push-bar 36 of a conventional counter 39, which records each upward movement of the latch body and thus indicates (at 2 in Fig. 1) the number of times the drawer or till has been opened.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, I provide a locking-unit 'HJ mounted intermediate the upper corners of the plates 62 and 63 and extending laterally appreciably therebeyond. The locking-unit H! includes a body H of elongated, rectangular cross-section configuration, having a longitudinally-extending passageway '12 in which a bolt $8 is slidably positioned. A keyhole opening 13 extends inward from the front of the body and communicates with the passageway 12, which is generally rectangular in configuration but which, at that point, is provided with an arcuate notch 14 in its bottom wall to permit rotation of the key, to be described.

The body ll is provided with another transverse opening intersecting the passageway 12, the front portion l'E-a. of said opening being circular in cross-section and the rear portion 15-!) being rectangular in cross-section. To simplify manufacture, the rear surface of the body ll may be formed as a separate plate, screwed or otherwise detachably connected to the remainder of the body, with the portion 75-4) constituting a rectangular hole therein.

Slidably mounted within the passageway 12 is a bolt 50, normally urged inward (to the right in Fig. by a compression spring 4| mounted at the outer end of the passageway and extending into a small socket formed in the outer end of the bolt.

The inner end of the bolt is bifurcated, with a longitudinal slot 44 intervening the upper portion 43 and the somewhat shorter lower portion 16 thereof.

The locking pin 3, which, for the most part, is circular in cross-section, is provided, at its inner end, with a generally rectangular locking-head Ma, which is undercut, as at 42, into a generally T-shaped configuration, to permit it to fit within the slot M, and which is notched, as at 42-11, at the forward end of the undercut portion, along the outer edge thereof.

A leaf spring 11 is mounted on the rear of the body H and bears against the locking-head 4| a so as normally to urge the lockingpin forward and to maintain the locking-head 4la within the portion 75-1), with the undercut (but unnotched) portion d2 thereof disposed within the slot 44 and bearing against the inner end wall 73 of the slot, so as to hold the bolt 40 in the retracted position shown in Fig. 5, wherein the free end of the portion 43 thereof is fully concealed within the body 1 I.

However, when the locking pin is manually pushed inward, it is shifted rearwardly from the solid line positions of Figs. 6 and '7 to the dashdot line positions, against the pressure of the spring 11, and the notched portion 42-11 comes into alignment with the slot 44.

This permits the bolt to move inward slightly, under the pressure of the spring 4|, until the inner end wall 18 again seats against the recessed edge of the notched portion 42-01.. In the last-mentioned position, the free end of the portion 43 protrudes inward beyond the body H and overlies the upper edge of the latch body 12 so as to prevent upward movement thereof from the lowermost locking position shown in Figs. l-5.

Outwardly of the longitudinal slot 44, the bolt 40 is provided with a notch it formed by an outermost plane vertical wall 4'! and an arcuate wall 58 extending (through approximately 90 degrees of arc) downwardly and inwardly from the upper end of the plane wall. The notch 46 is in line with the keyhole opening 13, so that,

upon insertion and rotation of a key or similar unlocking device 49, the tooth 50 of the key will, after moving along the arcuate surfaces 14 and 48, contact the plane wall 41 and, upon continued rotation of the key, shift the bolt laterally outwardly to its original retracted position. As the bolt thus moves outward, the spring 11 again shifts the locking pin 3 forwardly to its original position, wherein the portion 42 comes within the slot 44 and automatically locks the bolt in retracted position.

A notch 45 is formed in the side edge of .the latch body 12 slightly below the upper edge thereof, the notch being in line with the portion 43' of the bolt 40 when the latch body is in its uppermost position. Accordingly, if the latch body [2 is first raised (by lifting the lift-key 8) and the locking-pin 3 is then pushed, the bolt will be released so that its end 33 will be shifted into the notch 45, thereby locking the latch in raised inoperative positi-on until the key is inserted and turned to retract the bolt MI in the manner described above. In this manner, it is possible to maintain the lockingmechanism in open position when the store is closed and the receipts are being calculated, and at other times when security is not important.

In other words, the locking-pin 3 can be used to lock the latch 9 either in lowermost locking position or in uppermost retracted inoperative position, depending on whether the lift-key 8 is in its normal lowermost position or in manually raised position when the locking-pin is pushed in. In either case, insertion and operation of the key 48 in the manner described, will free the latch 9 for normal operation, wherein it is raised to retracted unlocking position upon manual raising of the lift-key 8, and wherein it is moved back to lowermost position by spring action upon release of the lift-key, and wherein it automatically locks within the socket of the extension piece 54 (following momentary camming retrac tion thereof) when the drawer or till is pushed inward to closed position, all in the manner more fully described hereinabove.

The key 49 could, of course, be constructed in any other suitable form, including, for example, a form which would cause retraction of the bolt 43 upon simply being pushed inward (through conventional camming action) in place of the rotational action illustrated.

While, for simplicity, only a single lift-key is shown, it is possible to-provide a plurality (for example five or six) of such lift-keys, with conventional mechanism, well known in the art, for rendering the latch-raising means operative only when the correct, pro-determined combination of two or more of the lift keys is manually raised, so as to give added protection against opening of the till by unauthorized persons not in possession of the correct combination.

From the foregoing description, it is apparent that the novel lock of the present invention is a simple, inexpensive, yet dependable device, which can readily be affixed to rare-existing cash drawers or tills, which gives a clear and unmistakable ring or other audible warning signal each time the drawer is opened, which includes a push-button or other similar part enabling the storekeeper unobtrusively to secure the latch mechanism in looking position or optionally in retracted inoperative position, and which includes means, separate from the push-button, for releasing the latch mechanism for normal operation, wherein it is manually raised to unlocking position and 7 automatically returns to locking position, securing the drawer when the latter is pushed inward to closed position.

The present invention may be embodied in other forms, those described herein being merely illustrative and not restrictive, and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing description, as indicating the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent:

1. In a lock constructed and arranged to be afiixed to cash drawers and the like, a movable latch; means normally urging said latch to extended locking position; a lift-key or the like for manually shifting the latch to retracted disengaged position; a movable bolt located within the housing and shiftable into extended position blocking movement of the latch; a spring urging said bolt toward latch-blocking position; means for releasably holding the bolt in re tracted position, said last-mentioned means including a manually operable locking-pin constructed and arranged normally to prevent spring-actuated movement of the bolt but being shiftable to bolt-releasing and latch-blocking position; means, separate from the locking-pin and including a removable key Or the like, for returning the bolt to retracted position thereby freeing the latch, and means for sounding an audible signal each time the latch is shifted to retracted position, said last-mentioned means comprising a bell or the like and trip-hammer mechanism including a lever pivoted intermediate its ends and having a bell clapper mounted at one end and a spring urging the lever to bellstriking position, a slidable member connected to, and linearly movable with, the lift-key and carrying a spring-extended retractable engaging latch constructed and arranged normally to underlie the other end of the lever so as to cause tilting of the lever against the pressure of the lever spring during the early portion of the retracting movement of the latch, the end of the lever slipping ofi the engaging latch and permitting the spring-actuated bell-striking opposite tilting of the lever upon continued retraction of the latch.

2. A construction according to claim 1 wherein the latch is provided with a recess which is in line with the bolt when the latch is in retracted position, whereby the latch can also be maintained in retracted disengaged position by first raising the lift-key to retract the latch and then pushing the locking-pin to release the bolt and to enable the end of the bolt to enter the recess.

3. A construction according to claim 1 wherein the lift-key is provided with an extension piece passing through an elongated slot in the body of the latch with the free end thereof connected to the slidable member and wherein the end of the engaging latch is provided with a camming surface enabling the engaging latch to be momentarily retracted by the adjoining end of the lever upon the return movement of the slidable member so as to enable the engaging latch to clear the end of the lever upon said return movement.

4. In a lock constructed and arranged to be affixed to cash drawers and the like, a movable latch; means normally urging said latch to extended locking position; a lift-key or the like for manually shifting the latch to retracted disengaged position; a movable bolt located within the housing and shiftable into extended position blocking movement of the latch; a spring urging said bolt toward latch-blocking position; means for releasably holding the bolt in retracted position, said last-mentioned means including a manually operable locking-pin constructed and arranged normally to prevent spring-actuated movement of the bolt but being shiftable to boltreleasing and latch-blocking position; means, separate from the locking-pin and including a removable key or the like, for returning the bolt to retracted position thereby freeing the latch, the bolt being an elongated slidable member having one end bifurcated, with a longitudinal slot extending inward an appreciable distance therealong, the locking-pin being disposed generally at right angles to the bolt with an intermediate portion of reduced thickness extending through the slot, said intermediate portion of the locking-pin being longer than the thickness of the bolt and being notched at one end, so that, in one position of the locking-pin, the end-wall of the bolt slot bears against the unnotched part whereby the bolt is held in retracted position, while in the other position of the locking-pin, the notched end is within the slot whereby the bolt is free to moveto extended latch-blocking position under the action of its spring.

5. A construction according to claim 4 wherein the locking-pin is provided with a spring normally urging it to extended position wherein the unnotched part of its reduced-thickness intermediate portion is within the slot of the bolt and wherein manual inward pressure on the lockingpin shifts it to bolt-releasin position so as to block the latch.

6. A construction according to claim 5 wherein the bolt is provided with a key-receiving opening whereby it can be shifted back to retracted position, against the pressure of its spring, after ithas moved to extended latch-blocking position following operation of the locking-pin.

. "7. A construction according to claim 6 wherein the bolt, when in extended position, normally maintains the latch in extended locking position.

8. A construction according to claim '7 wherein the latch is provided with a recess which is in line with the bolt when the latch is in retracted position, whereby the latch can also be maintained in retracted disengaged position by first raising the lift-key to retract the latch and then pushing the locking-pin to release the bolt and to enable the end of the bolt to enter the recess, thereby blocking movement of the latch until retraction of the bolt.

- MENACI-IEM ROTMAN.

I ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 326,840 Bredee Sept. 22, 1885 I 471,118 Higgins Mar. 22, 1892 827,177 Pixley July 31, 1906 1,035,757 staples Aug. 13, 1912 1,052,105 Van Hoesen Feb. 4, 1913 1,146,407 Dight July 13, 1915 

